


Footsteps

by kcstories



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: rarepair_shorts, F/M, Hogwarts Era, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-22
Updated: 2008-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-29 14:12:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7687600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kcstories/pseuds/kcstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ginny is being followed, but not for the reasons she suspects.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Footsteps

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2008 Summer Ficathon.
> 
> **Pairing:** Ginny Weasley / Colin Creevey (Mention of past Harry/Ginny)  
>  **Warnings:** AU-ish  
>  **Disclaimer:** The Potterverse is JKR’s, not mine.

_One. Two. Three. Four._   
  
Ginny stops dead in her tracks and holds her breath.   
  
The footsteps she heard so clearly behind her stop simultaneously.   
  
She wasn’t wrong, then. She is being followed, and not for the first time in this week.   
  
She grips her wand tightly, and braces herself.   
  
The war may be over, but that doesn’t necessarily mean everything is back to normal or entirely safe. Some convicted Death Eaters’ children might be searching for revenge, and the Weasley family has always been a popular target.   
  
She turns around and takes two swift strides forward until she notices the sound of someone breathing in the alcove behind the tapestry.   
  
Whoever it is sounds nervous and must be quite naïve, too, to assume that Ginny doesn’t know these hiding places. She got plenty of practice sneaking around back in the days when Dumbledore’s Army still trained in secret. She didn’t get caught once, and coincidence or luck had nothing to do with it.   
  
“You can come out now, whoever you are,” she declares. Her even, matter-of-fact tone makes her sound far braver than she feels. It could be anyone in there, and it’s been awhile since she last duelled.   
  
A nervous cough is heard, and then the person who’s been following her steps forward.   
  
Her eyes widen when she recognises him. “Colin,” she all but yells, “what the hell are you playing at?”   
  
“I-I,” he stammers, but whatever he’s about to say, she doesn’t allow him to finish it.   
  
“You do know, don’t you,” she begins to rant, strong irritation fast replacing her earlier fear, “Harry and I broke up during the summer? So stalking me to get some…interesting snapshots to flog to _The Prophet_ is a complete waste of your time.” She pauses, and then adds in a mocking tone, “What kind of a reporter do you suppose you’ll be anyway, if you still hadn’t heard about our break-up? Me thinks you might be aiming a little too high, Creevey.”   
  
“I-er...” He takes a deep breath and nervously wrings his hands, just for a moment, before replying, “No. I-It’s nothing like that. I mean, I didn’t even bring my camera along. See?” He holds his hands up for emphasis. “And it, um, it wasn’t Potter I was following you for.”   
  
Ginny blinks. This is just about the last thing she needs. “What do you want from me then?” she snaps. “Are you part of the ‘Ginny Weasley is a slag’ squad? Hoping to catch me in the act? Get some pictures of me snogging half the Quidditch team?” She lets out a bitter laugh. “If you’ve been on my heels constantly you should already know all that talk is just a lot of rubbish anyway.”   
  
He takes another deep, bracing breath. “I never believed those nasty rumours for a second,” he replies, his tone soft and sincere. “You’re not that kind of girl.”   
  
Ginny’s eyes widen.   
  
“I always suspected some admirer of Harry’s had started them, you know, when the two of you were still together.” He shrugs. “I just started following you because...”   
  
She crosses her arms and gives him a challenging look. “Yes?”   
  
“There’s another Yule Ball next month, and I was wondering”—his face turns a fetching shade of crimson; clearly, he’s not used to this sort of thing—”whether you already have a date?”   
  
Ginny frowns. “No,” she says slowly. “I don’t.”   
  
“W-Would you like to go with me then?” he blurts out, his blush deepening even further.   
  
Ginny’s eyes grow wide again. “You were following me because you wanted to take me to the Ball?”   
  
He nods. “Yeah. I just didn’t know whether you’d want to go; and besides, maybe you were already seeing someone, but keeping it under wraps because of all that nasty gossip.” He shrugs and gives an apologetic smile. “I just wasn’t sure.”   
  
Once more, Ginny frowns. Truthfully, she hasn’t given the Yule Ball a whole lot of consideration yet. It seems like just another attempt to convince the students life is back to normal and will go on. The whole endeavour feels... forced, somehow. Didn’t those Balls use to be exclusive to the Triwizard Tournament anyhow? She’s quite certain Hogwarts won’t be hosting one of those again any time soon.   
  
“Er, Ginny?”   
  
She snaps back to the present and looks at Colin, who's standing there, still blushing furiously, and she has to concede he looks kind of cute, in his own bumbling Colin way. Suddenly, she cannot find it within her heart to refuse. And who knows? She might actually have some fun.   
  
“All right,” she replies. “Why not? Although I have to say...”   
  
“Yes?”   
  
“I’m surprised you stopped following Harry around. He was pretty much your only focus these past few years.”   
  
Colin shrugs. “Yeah, well. I guess I got over my attraction to that whole ‘hero’ business.”   
  
Ginny can only smile. “That,” she says, “is something we have in common, then.”


End file.
